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So after a long needed visit to an allergist yesterday, I learned that my childhood cat allergies are gone. Given my current living situation, a dog would not be a good pet choice but a cat would work wonderfully. Does anyone have any good resources or just general advice for a cat noob like me!

It is impossible to cat-proof a house. Do the best you can, but a cat will always find some way to get into something you don't want them getting into.

Also, try to avoid the cheap cat food, as that's basically just junk food. If corn is in the first five ingredients, don't get it.

Cats pretty much take care of themselves.

One thing though, cats seem to learn better from being rewarded for actions you want them to do than they will learn from being punished for things you don't want them to do.

Also, get them fixed. It's healthier for the cat and will be much better for you as an owner.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also second the cheap food comment, a cat I owned developed diabetes and other health problems simply from eating that food. Switched foods and pow, much healthier happier cat.

Do not let your cat outdoors as they are killing machines. Nothing is safe! Birds, lap-dogs, squirrels, rabbits, small children, snakes, census officials, and amphibians; will all be slaughtered by your feline friend.

Cats are the spawn of satan, do not get. Get an attack chihuahua(Im not allowed to own a cat in my house :(

When I did own a cat, one thing I learned, change the litterbox

Yeah, if you don't change the litter box often enough, they'll gak on your clothes and your floor.

Personally I'm of the opinion that this is entirely the owner's fault for trapping an animal indoors and then forcing it to stand in a large pile of its own waste to go to the bathroom.

If you neglect a cat and it's needs/comfort, it has no reason to care for you and yours.

First thing, get a book on cat care. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, but read it before you do anything else. Make sure you understand the obligations - in time, attention, expenses... a pet brings.

 Easy E wrote:
Do not let your cat outdoors as they are killing machines. Nothing is safe! Birds, lap-dogs, squirrels, rabbits, small children, snakes, census officials, and amphibians; will all be slaughtered by your feline friend.

Also, it's just not safe for the cat. Better for all involved if they just kinda nap on the couch sixteen hours a day and chase a laser pointer in the living room for three (the balance of the day is napping on clean laundry).

Change the litterbox often is a good one, same with the food, fixing, all the standard advice. Getting a cheap spray bottle you can fill with water is a great way to get them to stop doing something right now, but eventually they'll learn and taunt you with the behavior unless you keep the bottle on hand at all times (Oh, I'm not allowed on the counter? Well, fine, I'll stay up there until you get to the room you keep the bottle in, and THEN I'll jump down!).

Much like with small children, don't get any toys that you don't mind stepping on/hearing at three in the morning.

Bit of a specific one, but lock up fishhooks. They're shiny, dangly, and...actually, pretty much the equivalent of a cat toy on a string, except they're also pointy. A couple of old roommates of mine thought they had cat-proofed the house, but like Tannhauser said, that's not actually something that happens. The hook was on a mantelpiece that they thought was out of reach. By the time they finally caught him to take him to the vet, he'd cleared the mantelpiece off (he was fine, but had to have a little shaved patch on his leg for them to take some blood, it looked hilarious).

Go with planned feeding amounts/times rather than just keeping a food bowl constantly full; some people do that, and sometimes it works, but it's a pretty good way of turning the little guy into Garfield.

Cats are awesome.


-get a kitten after his weening/box training from someone. There are tons of unwanted cats in the world, so just put it out there that you're looking for one and someone WILL find you. S/He will still be young enough to imprint you as a family member.

-When it is a kitten, be prepared to spend an hour playing with it, letting it sleep for an hour or so, and then spend another hour playing. Kittens recharge after quick naps and want to play a lot. It's important to your relationship that you don't ignore it as a child. (My cat loves me because of my attention in his youth.)

-Rub a stick of deodorant along wires and cables. They don't like deodorant, so this will prevent young cats from chewing on wires. My cat stopped wanting to chew on them once he was a year old.

-cats like schedules and certainty. Their stomachs will start getting prepped for food around the time they normally eat, for example.

-don't declaw. When s/he is a kitten, you are going to get tore up. Whenever you get scratched, as punishment, just ignore the playful kitten for 10ish minutes. No need for water spraying or anything fierce. They will learn how to better control their claws as they grow.

-spay/neuter at 6 months age.

-Once they get to a year old or so, they're pretty much an adult cat. (And they will stop being super klutzy, which is good and at the same time sad.) At this point they start sleeping half the day, and generally settle into their life, do what they want etc.

-Have some high places they can jump up on in rooms. "Catwalks" as it were. Many of them like being able to cross a room without using the floor. Some decent furniture arrangement can do this.

-try not to feed them human food. My older cat that grew up with my wife has been spoiled and so doesn't like most cat food or treats. He wants KFC. :/

-the cat will likely learn to dart out the door when it's open eventually. I keep my broom near the door. After being shoo'd back inside by the broom a few times, he's figured out he's not supposed to go outside. When he does, I start going outside with the broom intentionally hitting the bristles on the ground so he hears it, and he runs right back inside.

-If you get two cats (which is advisable, as they play with each other and keep each other company, also groom each other's heads,) get them close to each other's age. Older cats get stressed out by change and new kittens.

Edit: oh there is a process for introducing two cats to each other. Keep one in one room and the other in the rest of the house for a day. Switch them the next, do this like 2-3 times, and then open up everything and start having supervised time with both of them. The room thing lets them get used to the other cat's scent without having the chance to be violent. Pairs of kittens don't really need this though, they're pretty chill with whatever is going on.

That's pretty much all I got.

Like with dogs, the shelters & rescues are filled to the brim with good adult animals in need of a home. Also like with dogs they've all go their own personalities, so it's good to figure out what you want out of the cat. While they're certainly more independent animals they range from totally aloof to very affectionate, from lazy to very energetic. The differences can be pretty stark one cat might be content lie around all day, while another might basically be a furry pinball.

On the subject of cat litter: get one of those litter boxes with a roof and a door and sand that clumps when wet. And clean it once every 2 days top.
Also you need to teach it bed and table manners. The cat in bed will try to get as close to your head/ chest as possible. Try to prevent that.
And get those little towers with rope on them for it to do it's nails. Do not declaw as she is completely helpless without them.
And finally for the love of God get a cat with short hair. You will thank me when the seasons change.

Change the litterbox daily. Keep them inside. Get two, so they can play together. Brothers are the best option, as male cats are less of a handful usually, and they'd have that family bond already. Be affectionate towards them, but let the cat decide when is a good time to be alone. Your forearms will thank you. Get a scratching post and catnip. One of those self filling food and water things is a good idea, as cats are not like dogs; they will stop eating when they don't need food. Dogs will glom it all down.

A good cat is amazing, and a truly wonderful pet. A bad cat is truly awful. Get a good cat.

Buy bag, locate river.....rejoin human race.

Get a Shiba Inu
..........

Don't get it declawed, or get one that is already declawed. Despite what some vets might say, the human equivalent is cutting off your finger up to the first knuckle. Cats are more aggressive when declawed and have to use the other pointy things they have to defend themselves (this is mainly biting and a cat bite is far worse than a cat scratch). Make sure to give it a good scratching post that is tall or long enough for it to stretch on. Maybe trim the claws if need be (only a few mm in so that it blunts the claw, not right down to the tendon).

If you get a kitten, get two. Cats despite being aloof are still social creatures and will need some attention. Especially if you aren't always home. Two means they'll have someone to play with.

If you get an older cat you can be more descerning about its personality, but any bad habits will be ingrained and not easy to get rid of. Kittens can often be friendlier if you've given them lots of affection.

Don't try to protect the entire house from them either. Pick one or two things or areas and enforce them as a no scratch/no go zone. Squirt bottles and swatting with a rolled up paper will do the trick. Accept they will go on the couches, you can train themnot to scratch, but they will walk and nap on them.

Cats will climb stuff, just accept it.

Do not declaw. Letting your cat outside is OK too, depending on the area you live. Fluffy will kill stuff, its what they do. Just accept it.

 Chongara wrote:
Like with dogs, the shelters & rescues are filled to the brim with good adult animals in need of a home.

Pretty much this. Rescues come with the perks of usually already having had any shots, being neutered, and in a lot of cases have already been micro-chipped, too.

Set a bigger storage card in your phone for all the new owner photos.

Cats are great low-key pets. If they are near you, and touch you, they like you (they don't have to share space with you).

Cats remember everything, good and bad, and they hold grudges. First impressions and first experiences matter.

Cats are obligate carnivores, so they should be fed wet cat food, never dry. It is not a bad idea to raise mice for fresh (i.e. live) food. If you start the cat on people food, they will like it. Also, share your earwax!

Cats are very smart and learn by quietly observing you. Given time, they will learn to open closed doors, drawers, cabinets, pantries, etc. You may literally need to "child proof" spaces that you don't want them getting into (household chemicals). They also learn routines very quickly; if you have a daily/weekly schedule, they will learn it. Cats are very good at training people to feed them and play with them on demand, so choose your morning & feeding routine very carefully...

Share my earwax?!

If you don't share, they might go after your Q Tips I have a tom that likes used pipe cleaners, so I have to throw them away outside.

Get several of those flat scratching pads made of cardboard. Good for clawing and a handy bed (my cats are weird as hell).

Oh, that's what was meant.

Yeah one of my cats will dig q tips out of any garbage can they get put in and then parade around the house with it in their mouth, mewling and looking for approval as if they had dispatched a pest. It's kinda cute, but also annoying.

A warning:

 curran12 wrote:
So after a long needed visit to an allergist yesterday, I learned that my childhood cat allergies are gone. Given my current living situation, a dog would not be a good pet choice but a cat would work wonderfully. Does anyone have any good resources or just general advice for a cat noob like me!

Throw cat out the window. they are lame

Then get a doge from the pound.

older dogs are pretty chill. even some of the small ones.

hell one of my dogs is basically a cat.

Except I do have dog allergies.And pet size limitations on my living conditions. Please read the post where I say my conditions favor a cat.

Some great advice in here, especially regarding de-clawing. Please don't do that it is an awful practice.

I have four cats and I am intrigued by the ear wax thing. Do cats have a secret love of ear wax? Or was that a joke about sharing Q-tips?

Besides Q-tips or rubber bands, a cheap cat toy in my house are emery boards. My cats love to steal them and will lick and chew the things for hours. My girlfriend usually tosses one out as an offering when doing her nails, otherwise she has a hovering audience of wide-eyed cats following her hands' every movement.

I live on a farm with 10 cats. That said niv-mizzet pretty much covered everything.

Our cats will sometimes get some scrambled eggs as a treat during breakfast, but we don't allow them any other human food. We've got the always out bowl and all our cats are fine and fit.

Buy a laser pointer if you don't already have one. It's loads of fun for both you and the cat.

Sibling kittens are the best option for a new owner.

Don't declaw them. The one time I saw a declawed cat at a teacher's house, it was yowling at them as they tried to wrestle it off the table.

Human ear wax smells (and sorta tastes) exactly like what cats have evolved to eat.

I routinely use my ear wax as a way to meet new cats.

I knew my earwax jar would be useful one day!

And people said I was mad!

Now I just need to find uses for my box of toenail clippings and my belly-button lint collection.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
Human ear wax smells (and sorta tastes) exactly like what cats have evolved to eat.

I routinely use my ear wax as a way to meet new cats.

I am pretty floored by this. Never knew cats might be attracted to the scent of earwax, and yet, a quick Google search has given me a bunch of new reading material!